It still feels a little tricky as a process, but I would think in a year or so you’ll be able to buy one on arrival at a country, and fill it up with your credit card… which would make a lot of sense. Of course the operators won’t like their loss of data roaming charges, but it will have to happen at some point.

Operators are legally required to send their customers a text message when they enter a foreign country to warn them of the increased cost of using a mobile phone overseas. The iPad is not designed to receive text messages and some networks have thus disabled roaming to comply with European law.

How frustrating! And of course, whilst I would be happy to get a SIM for the countries I visit often, they aren’t going to sell me one are they…?

This is mildly irritating for me, but it’s going to be infuriating for people who live in Western Europe and travel between countries a lot…

So I’ve changed my mind about the iPad and tablet computers. In my initial review, I focused on capabilities. And tablets are stuck between the power and utility of the notebook and the size and features of a smartphone. But they also create a middle place in terms of usability. And that is what I missed in my first day with the iPad. It feels less like a computer than any computing device I’ve owned. It’s easy on me in a way that the other devices are not. So I’m now convinced that tablets will have an important place in our homes and our lives.

I find it interesting how the iPad is almost always in the same room of the house as me, much more so than my laptop. Of course, my phone is almost always in my pocket, but I am using it a lot less, and even though we have spare laptops in the house (old ones from work), I’m reaching for the iPad first and spending very little time on the laptop now.

For a product that doesn’t ship until Friday. Hmmm. And the two reviews have rated it 3/5 and 5/5. Hmmm. The reviews don’t read like they are planted, but you would have thought they’d only accept customer reviews after the product has shipped?

Having said that, I’ve learned that O2 let you manage your account from your iPad and Vodafone don’t, and O2 bundle WiFi access and Vodafone don’t. So maybe I’ll skip Vodafone!

Here’s a screen shot of the page in case they take it down.

Screen Shot of the Vodafone page this morning

Here’s an old Newton ad:

Someone has pointed out the similarities between one of the current iPad ads and the Newton ad above. The most depressing thing for me is that the Newton is still better than the iPad (or anything else) in some areas… oh well. It was a wonderful, if slightly clunky device (by today’s standards).

Such is the power of focus. I just wish I could get people in our industry to see it…

For students of the Innovator’s Dilemma you can really see it at work in the reaction to the iPad. Matt’s comment:

If you’re going to put a desktop operating system onto a tablet device, you’re going to immediately alienate the vast majority of your potential customers. Note the word “potential”. Paradoxically, you may temporarily placate most of your existing customers, but you’re not innovating and you’re certainly leaving a lot of money on the table.

The iPad is really interesting, both as a device in its own right and also in how it will change our perception of how people interact with the computing world. I’ll also be interested in how other manufacturers react – I fear it’ll be rather similar to their reaction to the iPhone which is pretty much “Look, we know you think the iPhone is cool but it really isn’t because it is so limited. Here’s our phone which has all the features and complexities of our normal phones, with a few choice bits from the iPhone, and a load more stuff squidged on top”.

And of course, we all keep buying iPhones.

As an aside, the first views of Microsoft’s “Courier” Booklet have appeared. My initial impressions are:

• By the time it gets to market, the iPad will have set our expectations for this category of device.
• Wow, it looks powerful/complex – but in a way that I don’t really care about. If I want that power, I’ll use my Laptop.
• A pen! Wow that feels old fashioned now… (I know there are lots of good uses for a stylus, but…)
• Microsoft and their partners have a history of making a mess of this space.

The next 18 months will be interesting, both from the perspective of the cool tools we’ll all have at the end of it, but also watching the market dynamics play out. I’m sure there’s plenty of MBA case study material that will come out of this phase of the market.

When I got an iPod, I could Rip all my CDs to MP3 and later AAC. So I could easily fill my iPod up with the music I already had, I didn’t need to shell out for a device and a load more content.

When I got an Apple TV, it took everything I already had on iTunes. Apparently using tools like MacTheRipper you can also backup the DVDs you legally own, so you can play them on your Apple TV. Again, I bought the device but I didn’t need to get a load more content.

But with an eBook reader, I can’t really Rip a book can I? If I want to read a book on my iPad or Sony eReader I have to buy it – even if I already have a physical copy. Which kind of sucks.

I wonder if that has slowed the adoption of eBook readers. Of course, the iPad isn’t just an eReader so it shouldn’t matter too much to Apple.

Now, if someone would come up with a scheme where I can trade in my physical books for an eBook copy….

I know I have and I am sure I am not alone. Now I just walk through book stores taking photos of interesting books so I can get them on my iPad later.

I’m a bit worried about long term availability but upon reflection how many books do I read more than once? As well as the convenience of being to take stuff on trips, imagine how much shelf space I’ll save at home and work!

Anyway, I loved this video:

It’s a good example of what happens when people can remix existing creative work.